This year we had the hottest and driest summer on record. The annual summer monsoons were nonexistent. The drought continued through the fall, with no rain and very little wind.
Last week we headed out to the desert to camp and hike. The day we set up camp the temperature rose to 80 degrees and we had to find shade to sit out and enjoy the desert. I knitted, and Dan started constructing a 1952 Hudson Hornet model.
I am modeling the hat that I finished knitting. It is a gift for one of our granddaughters.
We found a beautiful campsite--remote and quiet. And only twenty-three miles (and forty minutes) from our home.
And then after nine months of no rain, during our very first night camping the rain started. It wasn’t a good desert storm where the rain bounces off the ground, fills the washes, then the sun shines bright and dries out the desert. No, it was just a dreary Pacific Northwest rain where it seems to be only drizzling but in a short time you are soaked to the skin. It was kind of a pathetic rain, especially since it was our first rain since early March.
March seems so long ago. That was when we all thought that if we were careful we could, just maybe, avoid a pandemic.
Late the next morning when the steady rain had become a true drizzle, we finally put on in our PNW raincoats and decided to try hiking. Our reward for heading out into the desert blasted us in the face before we had gone 100 feet. The wonderful smell of the desert creosote surrounded us!
This is our very favorite smell and the only time you can smell the creosote is after a good rain. We planted creosote on both sides of our yard at Nuestra Casa so we can enjoy this sweet, musty aroma at home.
The plant on the right is our very own sweet desert creosote.
Our other reward for braving the rain was that as soon as we left our snug little camper, the drizzle stopped and we had a great hike with beautiful storm clouds surrounding us!
It started raining again just as our hike ended and we arrived back at our campsite. We spent the afternoon happy and snug in our little home in the desert.
Note: Dan is gluing his model together wearing his hiking headlamp and I’m wearing the second hat that I had just finished knitting for another of our granddaughters.
The coyotes must have loved the rain and aroma of the creosote, because we heard them singing and yipping from the washes and mountains all night long.....a lovely song.
People may wonder why we love the desert so much, but what we had today was the sweetest smells on the planet, the most wonderful serenades on the planet, and sights that were stunningly beautiful. And we experienced all of these sensory experiences together!
By the next day the rain had stopped and the sun was peaking through the clouds. This is one of the things that we love about the desert. It rarely rains for more than one day at a time. We have learned to just wait out the rain, and then we will be rewarded with a beautiful sunny day.
The air was fresh and the skies were bright as we headed out on a hike. Our goal was to hike as far out as we could on the old 4-wheel-drive dirt and rock roads into the remote area of the surrounding desert to find more campsites for future desert trips.
We need to walk these rough roads before we dare to drive them with either our Turtle or the Rat pulling the Quail, as many of these old roads start out Ok but become impassable and often there’s no place to turn around. We do not want to get in a literal “rock and a hard place.”
And we did find two super sites deep into the foothills where we could live and hike for several days in complete solitude.
Here we are outside enjoying each other, our lovely desert, and views of the distant mountains that surrounded us.
We were planning on hiking in the morning before returning home, but then Dan said, “I would like to go home and dance with you today.” And that was an offer I couldn’t refuse!
So we returned home, unloaded the Turtle and danced and danced...
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